Charro Days Fiesta

Charro Days Fiesta

Between January 31 and March 4; four days beginning the Thursday of the weekend before Ash Wednesday

The pre-Lenten festival known as Charro Days has been held each year since 1938 in the border towns of Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Mexico, on opposite sides of the Rio Grande. A major border-crossing point, the two towns have a rich Spanish-Mexican heritage which is reflected in the fiesta. Male residents of the two cities wear the charro costume—a cross between the costume worn by the Spanish dons who once ruled Mexico and the Mexican horseman's outfit. Women wear the china poblana —a regional costume once worn by a little Chinese girl who was befriended by the Mexicans and has since become a kind of fairy princess to them.
Fiesta events take place in both Brownsville and Matamoros, and include a huge children's parade, costume dances in the street, and other events with Mexican and Latin themes. The festival has been known to attract as many as 400,000 visitors, many of whom wear costumes and participate in the events.

CONTACTS:
Charro Days Committees
P.O. Box 3247
Brownsville, TX 78523
956-542-4245; fax: 956-542-6771
www.charrodaysfiesta.com

SOURCES:
AmerBkDays-2000, p. 118
AnnivHol-2000, p. 35